@article{ref1,
title="Quantitative analysis of ubiquitin-immunoreactivity in the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter with regard to the causes of death in forensic autopsy",
journal="Legal medicine (Elsevier)",
year="2005",
author="Quan, Linda and Ishikawa, Takaki and Michiue, Tomomi and Li, Dong-Ri and Zhao, Dong and Zhu, Bao-Li and Maeda, Hitoshi",
volume="7",
number="3",
pages="151-156",
abstract="The aim of the present study was to examine Ub-immunoreactivity in the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter (PGM), which is involved in pain processing and modulation, in forensic autopsy cases (n=273) in relation to the causes of death: acute deaths from blunt injuries (n=75), sharp weapon injuries (n=36), fatal asphyxiation (n=22), drownings (n=16: freshwater, n=9; saltwater, n=7), fire fatalities (n=64), poisoning (n=12), hyperthermia (n=5), hypothermia (n=5), delayed deaths from blunt head injury (n=8), acute cardiac deaths (n=24), and acute cerebrovascular strokes (n=6). The Ub-immunoreactivity was clearly observed in the nuclei of the PGM neurons, showing no postmortem interference or age-dependency. A higher value was observed in blunt injuries, fire fatalities and also in saltwater drowning, hyperthermia and delayed head injury deaths. These findings suggest a complicated mechanism for the ubiquitination of PGM neurons, to which multiple factors including the intensity and duration of pains possibly under alert consciousness, traumatic and metabolic neurodegeneration may contribute.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1344-6223",
doi="10.1016/j.legalmed.2004.11.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2004.11.003"
}